point of departure
Americannoun
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Nautical. the precise location of a vessel, established in order to set a course, especially in beginning a voyage in open water.
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a place to begin, as in a discussion, argument, etc.
Etymology
Origin of point of departure
First recorded in 1855–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One final point of departure for Papic: he disagrees vehemently with the notion that the intervention in Venezuela is bearish for oil prices.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 13, 2026
The data will be collected at the point of departure - either at an airport, port or train station - where there will be dedicated booths for scanning fingerprints and taking a photo.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2025
Let’s finally acknowledge how much we don’t know, and from that new point of departure, do everything we can to save our home.
From Salon ● May 1, 2025
This comes back to Brooks’s original point of departure: the act of decomposing, or a whale fall.
From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2024
Her point of departure that final voyage on the underground railroad was a tiny station beneath an abandoned house.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
